Paris Opera Ballet springs into Sydney summer

Five years ago, the famed Paris Opera Ballet had never set a finely honed foot in Australia.

By mid-February it will have clocked up three visits: Sydney in 2007, Brisbane in 2009, and Sydney again, for 13 performances from January 29. Yes, says promoter Leo Schofield with a laugh, they like it here.

And Australian audiences like them; both previous seasons sold out quickly. Not surprising, really, for a ballet company many consider the best in the world, one so in demand it has just toured to the US for the first time in more than a decade.

“Last time they came to Sydney in June, so when we asked them to come again, they specified Sydney in summer," says Schofield.

The number of étoiles, or top stars, among the 100 dancers coming to Australia has grown over the three trips; there will be a dozen this time around. They will dance Giselle, which has been in the company repertoire since 1841. It is the third trip for stars Marie-Agnès Gillot and Aurélie Dupont, but the first for one of the newest étoiles, Ludmila Pagliero.

Pagliero (pictured) is used to breaking new ground. She was the first South American to join a company famous for drawing 95 per cent of its dancers from its Paris feeder school.

The 28-year-old Argentinian began as a contract dancer, filling in when others were sick or injured. In March, nearly a decade later, she was promoted to the top rank. Cue tears. And applause.